Electronic Ignition

[marlin]

I have just substituted a 1300 maestro engine into my Marlin classic trials car, however the distributor has the electronic module on the side with the three prong plug, has any body got any idea's on wiring it up and whether there is a seperate ignition module to link to.

[G Force]

Hi, the easiest and most reliable method would be to try and get hold of the small Satellite harness that connects the distributor module to the ignition coil from a late maestro 1.3 then feed your coil + with battery voltage then connect the white wire to coil + and the white/Black wire to the coil -

Regards Gary:)

[marlin]

Is it as simple as that then? is there no seperate module? as it stands on the old harness, there is the white/black that would have connected to the old points and the two wires that go to the coil, will they literally connect to the plug system as you describe then.

[G Force]

If I understand you correctly you are describing the later type lucas modular distributor. It has the black amplifier module on the side with three small terminals. Only two terminals are needed, the small harness which connects it to the coil on the maestro has a locking multi plug at the amplifier then two wires one with a male spade connector the other a female spade which connect to the coil as in my first reply. Then you need to supply 12v to the coil + which in turn supplies the amplifier.

You would be best trying to get the maestro distributor harness as it provides a reliable connection at the amplifier which would otherwise be difficult to connect wires to.

Regards gary

:)

[J199 HHG]

Make sure you get the right coil as well.

My Land Rover has the same system and I burned out 2 'aftermarket' coils before fitting the correct Bosch one. Been fine for years since.

[marlin]

Originally posted by J199 HHG
Make sure you get the right coil as well.

My Land Rover has the same system and I burned out 2 'aftermarket' coils before fitting the correct Bosch one. Been fine for years since.

The only other problem to overcome now is the vacuum advance/retard on the old engine I was running a pair of 45 Dcoes, which do not have a vacuum take off on the manifold. The drive on the old centrifugal distributor is totally different to the maestro one, any idea's greatfully recieved.

[marlin]

Originally posted by marlin
The only other problem to overcome now is the vacuum advance/retard on the old engine I was running a pair of 45 Dcoes, which do not have a vacuum take off on the manifold. The drive on the old centrifugal distributor is totally different to the maestro one, any idea's greatfully recieved.

[marlin]

Originally posted by G Force
If I understand you correctly you are describing the later type lucas modular distributor. It has the black amplifier module on the side with three small terminals. Only two terminals are needed, the small harness which connects it to the coil on the maestro has a locking multi plug at the amplifier then two wires one with a male spade connector the other a female spade which connect to the coil as in my first reply. Then you need to supply 12v to the coil + which in turn supplies the amplifier.

You would be best trying to get the maestro distributor harness as it provides a reliable connection at the amplifier which would otherwise be difficult to connect wires to.

Regards gary

:) I am having problems locating a donor car locally, would there be a similar harness on the metro?

[MarvMin]

Currently attempting similar electronic dizzy installation in a 1972 Mini with 1987 1000cc A+ engine - the latter originally having a Ducellier traditional contacts-based dizzy. Had similar probs in locating wiring info for the module that is physically bolted to the side of the Lucas electronic dizzy. Slightly complicated by (I believe) earlier Maestro models that had the ignition module fitted remote to the dizzy - think it was adjacent to the coil on the bulkhead. Anyway, I whizzed a coil and dizzy (complete with the side-mounted 3-pin module) from a Metro. Sadly, the small length of loom from the Metro's coil to the ignition module was missing, hence my predicament being similar to yours.

Cut to the chase: see jpeg that indicates pin configuration for the three-pin version (and the two-pin spade version). Note that the module may have three pins but the center pin is not used.
The "B+" pin appears to be the +12V feed probably linked from the +ve feed to the coil, and the "coil" pin presumably goes to the other coil terminal. I assume the module itself is earthed through the dizzy body.
(Think there is an adaptor available to convert the earlier two pin module to three pin. Whatever).

So yes, a suitable Metro of 1987ish vintage should be able to provide the necessary part of the loom. But I too have looked and can't find any suitable Maestros or Metros locally. I'm not too concerned though as the 3-pin connector block looks suspiciously similar to the standard multiway connectors used, say, on Bosch injection systems, so I imagine I will be able to wander into any breakers yard this weekend and find and snip a suitable connector complete with small length of attached cable. Then it will simply be a matter of extending these wires and connecting to the correct terminals on the Metro coil.

To answer the other point: no other external modules are required other than the one bolted to the side of the dizzy.

Not too sure how you would feed the vacuum unit on the side of the Lucas dizzy if your DCOE's don't have a suitable connection. Maybe consider drilling the inlet manifold to install suitable connection? And this would also have the advantage of offering provision for water injection at a later date.

To cover other ground, I know it's possible to gut a contacts-based A+ dizzy (Lucas 59D version?) and replace with the internal electronic trigger sensor module from an equivalent (59DE?) dizzy. This would enable retention of the original dizzy's bob-weights and so provide original ignition advance characteristics.

Hope this helps.

[marlin]

That's great, I have sussed it all out including the vacuum advance and retard, now to just overcome the fact that crank, sump and adaptor plate are different if anyboday has any idea's on a straight forward substitute I would be very grateful.